Lunchtime
by Kilerkki
Summary: Life is full of danger. It is not, however, full of good food, and so Konoha’s Team Yellow Flash enjoy it while they can. [Oneshot, Team Yondaime]


Lunch with Team Yellow Flash

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Inspired by sna's awesome story on Team!Yellow Flash's morning routine, and by my own afternoon snack. Sitting on the front step, watching the ants crawl over my feet as the sun warmed my shoulders and the peach juice drizzled down my wrists, I met the first line to this fic. The peaches didn't make it in, but I'm happy with it anyway.

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Rin didn't always make lunch for the four of them. Every so often Obito cajoled a stack of bento-boxes out of his mother, and several times Sensei persuaded them into accompanying him to the ramen bar on the corner by his apartment, and once Kakashi surprised them all by producing a packet of very squashed sandwiches out of his belt pouch. But mostly the responsibility fell on Rin, which was fine with her; it was a burden she'd shouldered herself at nine years old, when she noticed that Kakashi very seldom brought anything but dried fruit or protein-bars to gnaw on during their lunch breaks, and that even after they'd eaten Obito's stomach usually growled, and that Sensei always prodded sadly at the lumpy rice and mutilated vegetables in his home-made bento before he took a bite.

Rin was a medic-nin from a family of medic-nin, and she knew the importance of eating well.

Her family was a large one, and her mother an excellent cook, and there were always plenty of left-overs for the next day's bento. The morning after Kakashi brought no lunch at all and Sensei's bento was inedible even for his tough stomach, Rin took four times more than her fair share from the big covered bowls in the fridge. She smoothed out the pale grains of rice carefully in the small lacquered boxes, and then she added an extra large spoonful to three of the four boxes, because Kakashi was too thin and Obito always too hungry, and because Sensei would make faces and tease if either of the boys got more than he did.

She added chicken curry and steamed vegetables and little steamed buns filled with sweat-bean curd, and she filled another box with rich dark cherries still wet with dew, and by that time it was nearly time to meet her team at the clearing. She managed with only a little scrambling to fit everything into her pack (it was the middle of summer anyway, she wouldn't need that rain-coat) and headed for the clearing at a jog, almost bursting with excitement.

Their mission that day was tough and dirty and bloody, and once Rin saw Kakashi slit someone's throat, and once Sensei's body-flicker jutsu only got him there just in time to save Obito from being gutted. It was late in the afternoon by the time they headed back to Konoha, and they were all a little shaky with nerves and exhaustion—and, Rin realized belatedly when she shifted her pack so the strap wouldn't rub against her cut shoulder, with hunger.

"Sensei, wait up!" she called. He half-turned, blond head tilted quizzically. Just behind him, Kakashi stopped but didn't look around at all. Obito, who'd been trudging along behind Rin, nearly brained himself on her pack as she swung it down.

"Hey, what—" he began indignantly, and then stopped as Rin seated herself on a rock by the edge of the path and began pulling out boxes. They were warm from the sun and they smelled rich and sweet and spicy. Sensei swung round without needing to be told.

"You're a good kid, Rin-chan," he said, ruffling her hair with one hand as he took his bento in the other. He slipped the lid up with his thumb, sniffed, grinned, and added warmly, "An _excellent _kid."

And he sat down cross-legged in the grass on the edge of the path, pulled the chopsticks out of their little holder on the underside of the lid, and attacked the chicken curry with a ferocity worthy of Konoha's Yellow Flash.

Obito happily followed suit. Only Kakashi looked a little dubious. "Sensei, is it _safe?" _he demanded.

The Uchiha bristled, brandishing his chopsticks and a load of rice in the air. "Hey, jerk, you better not be insulting Rin-chan's cooking—"

"Didn't mean that, idiot," Kakashi said contemptuously. "I mean, is it safe to eat here, out in the open?"

"Wivum fuwov dangher," the Yellow Flash mumbled around a mouthful of sweet-bean bun. He swallowed and repeated himself. "Life is full of danger. It is not, however, full of good food. Enjoy it while you can, Kakashi-kun."

Kakashi hesitated, glancing at the box Rin held out to him. Obito mistook indecision for reluctance. "Hey, Rin-chan, I'll eat it if the jerk doesn't want it!"

"_No,_" Kakashi snarled, and swiped the bento out of Rin's hands with a speed to put Sensei's Body-Flicker Technique to shame.

Rin sat happily on her rock, munching on her snow peas, and made a mental note to bring more buns for Sensei next time and more rice for Obito, and to pack some napkins for Kakashi.


End file.
